The Seven Challenges of a Wedding!
by IssaVaugn
Summary: After leaving Easter, Utau's world has changed. Now she can shine, and make others around her shine as well. But what happens when she must help Sanjo-san with her wedding, and a old enemy rises up to attack them again? And where is Utau's heart in this all, as she tries desperately not to fall for the one kid who drives her crazy! Kutau with bits of other favorite pairings!
1. Chapter 1- The Dream

The castle of Seven Challenges

A/N: Hey guys, this is my first upload to FanFic! (Can I get Woot Woot?) Anyways, wrote this waaaayyyy back when for a friend of mine and decided to modernize and adapt it to my favorite ever couple, Kutau, and my unhealthy obsession with Shugo Chara. Hope you enjoy!

So there was this princess.  
As a baby, she'd been captured by an evil dragon and locked up in the highest tower of the beast's castle. The fortress, guarded by the cunning dragon, sat upon a hill( in all honesty, it was more akin to a mountain), surrounded by a moat of lava. The only way to pass the fiery pit was to pick one's way across a rickety rope bridge that had once seen better days. Before the bridge was a field of overgrown bramble, enchanted to attack any individual who tried to simply weave their way through the thick, strong weed with large, magical thorns. Once stuck with a thorn, the being would be put into an eternal sleep until the day the princess was freed and the dragon defeated. To get to the dense weeds, one also had to pass through a field of hot geysers, too close to one and... well, you get the picture. At the beginning of this long journey was the Enchanted Forest- the only entrance to the Castle of Seven layers of hell. (As deemed by the princess. The dragon viewed the Castle as an exotic resort.)  
Many had tried before to rescue the beautiful young maiden. And she watched them all fail. The bones surrounding the geysers, the sleeping figures scattered through the forest, the screams that still haunted her dreams occasionally.  
What they all had in common was their ignorance. They failed to know that the dragon had cast a spell upon his land; whomever wished to rescue his princess must take the most direct path to the Castle.  
And so, the princess waited, and waited... and waited. (When she could no longer wait, she waited some more.) The one thing that kept her sane was the face of beloved prince: her rescuer. Though she had never seen another person for as long as she could remember, she knew his face-locked away in her memories- was the face of her savior, the face of her true love.  
Then one day, he came.  
He was a true knight in shining armor, the very image of everything the damsel had envisioned, and she was sure he was the prince. (After all, who else could he be?)  
The prince rode his horse gallantly out of the forest, leading his beast carefully through the geysers, sidestepping the fatal hot springs as if dancing with Death herself. He swiftly dismounted his steed and draw a long, polished, sharp sword from its scabbard and began to hack his way through the deviled growth. Not once did he falter, nor did he stop to wipe the sweat from his brow. He only continued to swing, harder and harder the farther he advanced into the brush, as the thorns diminished his blade to a dull stump. Finally, he made it through, panting as he made his way to the next obstacle.  
The best part? The dragon was taking his daily nap.  
After making it through the bramble, he tossed aside his now useless sword and began his precarious journey across the ropes. With a few close calls, and several quick maneuvers that saved his life, the knight heaved himself over the lip of the grounds fiery mouth and began to hike his way to the top of the mounties.  
Then the princesses world seemed to end as the dragon awoke.  
Surprised as he was, the dragon was cunning. He recognized the princes own sharp mind and strength as well. He would have been a worthy opponent, under other circumstances. So the beast allowed the prince to reach the top of the castle moat. The dragon met him there and lowered the bridge allowing the prince to simply walk across the fifth obstacle. He congratulated the prince, inviting him into his lair, for surely one as smart as he could reach an agreement with the dragon.  
The prince, though eager to continue, accepted, and followed the dragon down stairs to the dungeon under the castle. The moat as left open, there would be plenty of time to close them after he had had his supper. There was, he renationalized no good reason to waste a perfectly good prince. No reason at all.  
The princess, whose once bright future sputtered and faded threw herself upon the bed and wept herself to sleep, for surely someone as cunning as even her knight could not survive an encounter with the ancient evil serpent.  
Upon reaching his lair, the dragon offered the prince a meal, thinking he was being gracious by giving the poor human to die upon a full stomach. Or perhaps he enjoyed the taste of stuffed human significantly better. We will never know. The prince agreed, and soon a magical feast was served. The two began a friendly, but flashy conversation, each trying to up the other. Many goblets were drunk during these debates, for wine truly did wonders to the brain, clearing the cobwebs from the fold of genius minds. Upon finding his goblet empty, the prince requested another drink.  
The dragon, wishing to fulfill the last wishes of the man he had come to find so entertaining and puzzling complied.  
But what the dragon did not know was the prince was not planning on dying, not if he had his way. When the dragons back faced him, the knight opened a vial from a hidden pouch under his tunic and poured the contents of the glass bottle into the dragons pond size goblet. The dragon, unaware of the princes act of self preservation, continued to talk and consume large amounts of his drink. A thought crossed his mind ( how would this young man taste fried in wine?) and decided he would prepare his dessert accordingly later on. But a time passed the dragon began to get sleepy. So sleepy, in fact, that he forgot to kill the insolent knight before him. So sleepy, that when his giant eyes closed twice, they did not open the third time.  
Carefully, avoiding the dragons smoking nostrils as he snored loudly the knight crept forward and unlatched the key from the giant chain around his neck. The diamond inlaid key, the saving grace of his princess! Unlocking the large doors, the prince ran into the abyss of the castle. Up stairs, down ladders, through trap doors, back and forth across long hallways until finally the knight made it to the tippy-top of the tower.  
Slowly, carefully he inserted the key and unlocked the door, finding his princess sprawled across her bed. Awakening the sleeping beauty with a simple caress of her cheek and whisper of promise, the prince grapes her hand and they made their way out of the fortress. There was no need to be silent, but the two were, whether in awe or reverence, or simply nerves neither could tell.  
The princesses heart was overwhelmed. With such a clarity she knew couldn't be wrong she grasped onto the thought floating through her mind: this was her prince, her knight, her beloved, and she was rescued.  
Upon reaching the castles gates, the prince wrapped his arms around the princesses dainty form and dashed away. Down towards the rickety bridge they traveled, each step down the hill was a leap towards a forever freedom. Protecting her body with his, the prince picked his way (surefooted, this time) across the lava pit, through the hacked path of the bramble, and out onto the plain of geysers. Setting her gently on his waiting steed he leaped up behind her. They galloped through the path of craters, weaving around the burning holes and into the outskirts of the woods.  
As they stopped to let the horse regain his breath under the shadow of the trees, the princess cleverly asked if she could bestow ' a kiss of gratitude' upon her savior, knowing in order to do so the knight would have to remove his helmet, and she could see the face of her beloved prince in the flesh at last. With all the fair maiden's beauty, the knight (of course) agreed. As his hands crept toward his face the princess carefully shut her eyes, her ears detecting the slightest clank as the knight armor was removed. Nd then she was kissed.  
The kiss was everything she'd dreamed of her whole life; possibly better. Fast and fierce, yet soft and gentle, the kiss took her breath away. Its power rendered her completely unable to do anything but simply live in the moment. Warm, strong hands encircled the back of her neck, strong and reassuring.  
When they finally broke away, the prince rested his forehead upon hers, their noses touching lightly, his cheeks brushing her still shut eyelids, his warm breath ghosting across her lips.  
Slowly, she opened her eyes to glimpse her beloveds face.  
Her eyes widened and she felt her stomach drop a thousand miles below the earth.  
The prince, his face...  
The face was completely wrong.

A/N: For those of you who agree this is the best pairing in history, rock on! It is my hope this will become an amazing romance story(I always pictured them in a passionate, slow relationship) so those looking for a lemon, keep reading until the end of this story. If not this one, then the sequel, which I plan for sure to write. Thanks for reading, please leave a comment (even if it is just two words) below. Love you!

-Issa 3


	2. Chapter 2- Dresses and a Kid

_Issa:_ _Hey you guys! This is the second Chappie in my favorite fanfic so far!_

_Amu: You only have two... -_-_

_Issa: Exactly! I'm relying on my readers to review so I can figure out whether or not people like my work and want me to continue..._

_Amu: oh... we'll in that case..._

_Issa and Amu: Review!_

_Amu: B T Dubs, Issa chan doesn't own any of this, just in case you were gonna ask._

_Issa: Right. Now on with the love!_

_El:*floats in* did someone say LOVE!?_

_Issa and Amu: *sweatdrop*_

_Issa: And, action!_

Utau awoke from her strange dream, sun shining across her twisted sheets straight into her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she tried to recapture the dream that was quickly fading as reality set in. A dragon. Seven things. A prince, who should have been completely dark, but instead had glowing green eyes and a shock of thick, silky auburn hair...  
Utau turned over in her bed, her white slip nightgown rustling over her long, bare legs as she pondered on the strange hazy memory. It had been a while since she'd had such a vivid dream, almost around the time Ikuto left... And yet she couldn't shake the feeling she was being warned.  
Shaking her head, she sat up in bed chuckling at herself. It was a wonderful Saturday morning, perfect for just relaxing from a long week with the unreasonable hours and demands that seemed to occupy a superstar's life. Not that she was just a superstar... In the past year, since she'd left Easter and began her own recording label and reinvented who she was as a singer, Utau had expanded her horizon. Now, in addition to recording and singing, she had begun to model- quite successfully, in fact- and had even starred as a special guest in many sitcoms and a few adult channels. Thus, leading her to buy this huge, old Victorian style mansion. Not only was it closer to the studios she now spent all of her waking hours in, but it was also reclusive enough that she could walk around the outside grounds and not be smothered by paparazzi. Not to mention, it was fully equipped with a maintenance and housing staff. No longer did she have to share Sanjo's apartment and awful cooking...  
Crap! Utau thought, looking over at her alarm clock. It was10:05, she was running late! With all the contract signing and promotion party she had completely forgotten to set her alarm... Now she would be late to the dress fittings!  
Cursing her forgetfulness and not being a morning person, Utau ran down the hallway to her 'closet'. It had taken about three days to get a work crew to come out to the private home and knock down three walls of the floor she was living in, but the result was worth it. The opened space had been converted into what resembled a small boutique of expensive, fashionable tailored clothing, almost like stepping into a store made specifically for her. The very front was lined with tables topped with organized accessories. The rest of the room held clothes racks that rotated filled with pants, shorts, and skirts; the walls were lined with tops, jackets and dresses; a few racks at the back even held costumes from her acting and modeling jobs. The farthest wall held all of her shoes, and she even had a changing area right next to the door, complete with full length mirrors, lights, and a mini modeling stage.  
Yep, this was one very great perks of being a famous teen icon. It didn't make up for the fact she was not normal, nor could ever be, but it did soften some of the harsher aspects of being famous. Utau had everything a teen could want, and more. Well, everything but a certain someone with deep emerald eyes..  
Utau threw on a pair of white skinny jeans and an off the shoulder cable-knit amethyst sweater. She pulled on a pair of knee high leather boots from the wall, and tucked her hair up into a matching beanie hat. Pulling a pair of white designer sunglasses and a matching purse from a table, Utau exited the room and ran back down the hallway, stopping in her room long enough to brush her teeth, swipe on simple make up, and stuff her wallet and phone into her purse. Grabbing her still sleeping charas- lucky them!- she ran down the grand foyer stairs, and took a right into the kitchen, grabbing an energy bar (it seemed that was all she ate these days). Jogging out front, the idol slid into the waiting limo and signaled the driver to leave. Another perk of popularity. A driver and a limo all to herself.  
Utau pushed her bangs away from her face, up into the hat and slid the sunglasses on. Normally, she wouldn't bother with the disguise if it were just her, but today wasn't her day. And she would be damned if she gave Sanjo-sun anymore problems to worry about when her situation was stressful enough. Getting married was no small task, but when you were Hoshina Utau's manager on top of that... Well, needless to say, it wasn't easy. And Utau knew she wasn't helping her managers worries any by showing up twelve minutes late to the dress fittings. Even the little bumps in plans seemed to set her off these days, she wanted everything to be perfect on her wedding day.  
Funny how their enemies while under Easter's influence had become their closest friends after leaving. In fact, all the Guardians would be in Sanjo-sans wedding. It seemed only fitting, seeing the roles they had played in her and Nikaidou's lives...  
Utau sighed. It would be easier though if they weren't... then she wouldn't have to deal with the sticky, complicated feelings that arose every time she saw the sport playing former Jack chair. Even in her obsession with her brother, Utau's feeling had never been so strong, so complicated. Even though she had kissed the soccer-playing baka twice now (they even had a 'punishment' where if Utau called him a kid three times he kissed her!) she still didn't know where she stood. All she knew was she liked him too much for her comfort, and Kukai had yet to make the next move. Who knew what would happen when she saw him at the dress rehearsal Wednesday!  
Utau sighed, shaking her head to clear her thoughts – she had about two minutes before she got to the shop. She had seen the dresses once now, but today would be the first time for her to try hers on, and see Amu, Rima, and Yaya in theirs. Not to mention Sanjo-san in hers. After the fittings- if all went smoothly, the five would go out to lunch to help Sanjo-san with the final details of the ceremony and after party. Not that Utau was dying to go (free food and a chance to repay her manager for all she'd done for Utau,) but they might be meeting up with Nikaidou and the male Guardians after their tux fittings from a suit warehouse nearby as well. On second thought, maybe she should skip, fake illness or something...  
Before Utau could talk herself out of going to lunch, the limo pulled up to the cute wedding dress shop and Utau stepped out. After giving the driver instructions to hang around close by and puck them all up after the fitting, Utau turned away and the white sparkling vehicle sped away. Already attracting too many stares, she turned to go inside. Hand on the doorhandles, she took a deep breath and steeled herself for Sanjo's freaking out/lecturing. But little could have prepared her for the chaotic and surmounting scene that lay before her.

_Issa: I don't want to sound pushy, but review! That is the only way you can interact with me, and I can learn what you readers like to make my story better, so please- rate and review! ^=^ ThNkssomuch!_

_A/N: just now figuring out how to work italics and that stuff. Is it sad I feel really accomplished?! Oh well! XD_


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